Ignition system.



B. DICK & v. ALFYNNL' IGNITION SYSTEM. APPLICATION FILED APR-13,1914.

Patented ,Feb. 22, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I- Fig. 1'.

' WITNESSES:

INVENTIORS: I

B. DICK & V. A. FYNN IGNITION SYSTEM. APPLICATION FILED AW. 13. 1914.

51,172,=771. Patented Feb.1916.

2 SIIEETS-SHEET 2.

A l/A A A 'a ground detector.

UNITED STATES FFIO BURNS DICK AND VALERE ALFRED FYNN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNORS TO WAGNER ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A GOR- PORATION OF MISSOURI.

' IGNITION SYSTEM.

Application filed April 13,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, BURNS DICK. and VALinua ALFRED FYNN, subjects of the King of England, residing at the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, United States of America, have invented a certain new and useful Ignition System, of which the following is such a full, clear," and exact description as will enable any one skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

Our invention relates more particularly to battery ignition systems for internal combustion engines.

One of our objects is to produce a system by means of which either vibrator or single sparks may be produced at will, without the 'use of a timer in the vibrator circuit.

Another object is to utilize the vibrator as a ground detector when not producing vibrator sparks. 1

Yet another object is to provide automatic means. for controlling the vibrator circuit.

Other objects and advantages of our in. vention will appear from the detailed description thereof and will be more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 illustrates one embodiment of. our invention, and Fig. 2 illustrates a modification thereof in which the vibrator is also made use of as Referring more particularly to Fig. l, the system illustrated thereby comprises terage battery 7 a spark coil having a core 2, a primary winding '3 and a secondary winding 4; a circuit breaker for producing single sparks, comprising the lever 25 pivoted at 26 normally held in its closed position by the spring 30 and intermittently forced out of said position by the cam 27 driven bythe engine, thus interrupting the circuits between the stationary contact 29 and the contact 28 carried by the circuit breaker arm Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 22, 1916. 1914. Serial No. 831,457.

its open position by the spring 35 but adapted to be closed by means of the electromagnet 32; a dry cell battery 8 provided so that t may be substituted for the storage battery 1n case the latter becomes defective; and a generator 9 connected to the internal combustion engine and adapted to charge the storage battery 7 and to feed the primary ignition circuit when the automatic switch located between one pole of the storage battery and the brush 12 of the generator is closed. This generator comprises the commuted winding 9, the main brushes 10, 12,

the auxiliary brush l1, and the exciting winding 13 connected between said auxiliary brush and one" of automatic battery switch has an armature the main brushes. The

14 pivotedat 20 and provided with the conbetween one brush of'the generator and the contact 16 of the switch. The secondary ignition circuit is merely indicated in the figure, but it will be'understood that, as a ule, it will include a distributer and a plurality of spark gaps instead of the solitary spark gap 5, 6, which is illustrated.

The primary ignition circuit comprises two branches. The single spark branch, with the battery switch 21 in its normal p0- sitioniin contact with the point 24, comprises. the storage battery 7, the primary 3 of the'spark coil, and the circuit breaker .25. The primary vibrator circuit comprises the same elements as the single spark circuit except the circuit breaker 25, and, in addition thereto, the vibrator 40 and the automatic switch 34 connected in shunt to the circuit breaker contacts. A condenser 31 is connected across the circuit breaker contacts 28, 29. I p

The generator 9 is permanently connected to one pole of the storage battery and is adapted to be connected to the other through i the automatic switch 14. The can be substituted for the stora e battery 7, or the dynamo 9, by moving the ignition switch 21 to point 22. The off position of this switch is on point 23. The electromagnet 32, controlling the armature 34 of dry cells 8 the automatic switch included in the vibrator circuit, is connected across the contacts 16, 17 of the automatic battery switch.

The operation of this system, with the switch 21 in the position shown, willnow be described. When the engine is at rest, then the cam 27 cooperating with the circuit breaker arm 25, and driven from said engine, is also stationary. The same holds true of the dynamo 9, because it, too, is driven by the explosion engine. As long as 9 is not excited and does not revolve, no E. M. F. will be generated at its brushes, and, in the connection shown, the battery 7 will fully energize the electromagnet 32, because one pole thereof is connected to the battery through the switch 21, the other through the armature of the dynamo electric machine. When 32 is fully energized, the vibrator circuit will be closed at the contacts 36, 37, and the vibrator will vibrate unless the engine has stopped in a position in which the cam 27 has allowed contacts 28 and 29 to close the single spark circuit, in which case the vibrator circuit will be short-circuited. As long as the circuit breaker is open, the drain on the battery when standing still, will be small, being limited by the rapid vibrations of the vibrator; but, this drain will be considerable when the circuit breaker stops in its closed position, and it is, therefore, important that the attendant be came ful to open the ignition switch as soon as his engine has stopped. When the engine is cranked, the cam 27 begins to revolve, and, as soon as it has opened, the single spark circuit at the points 28, 29, the vibrator, the circuit of which is closed at 36, 37, will begin to produce vibrator sparks and continue to do so until short-circuited by the contacts 28, 29 of the circuit breaker (the latter performing a similar function tothat per formed by the ordinary timer usually used in connection with the vibrators). After ignition has taken place and the engine is operating under its own power, its speedcan be raised in the usual manner. Under these conditions, a speed will soon be reached at which the generator 9 will begin to excite. When its voltage reaches a value approximately equal to the average terminal voltage of the storage battery, the coil 19 of the automatic battery switch will overpower the spring 15 and connect the generator to the storage battery and to the pri mary ignition circuit, at the same time short circuiting the electromagnet 32, thus releasing the armature 34 and interrupting the vibrator circuit. As soon as this vibrator circuit is interrupted, no more vibrator sparks will be produced, their place being taken by a single spark, which will occur every time the single spark circuit is interrupted at the contacts 28, 29. As long as the dynamo 9 has not been connected to the stor gine and, therefore, that of the generator 9' fall to such a value as to allow the battery voltage to exceed the generator voltage, then the current in the series winding 18 on the automatic battery switch will reverse, counteracting the magnetizing effect of the coil 19 and will open said switch, thus disconnecting the generator 9' from the battery 7 1 W J The form of our system shown in Fig. 2 differs from that just described in that the ignition switch 21 is located between the primary of the spark coil and the battery,,

and in that the vibrator circuit is earthed between the stationary contact 43 of the vibrator and the primary of the spark coil. Furthermore, the contacts of the vibrator itself are made use of for opening the vibrator circuit when it-is' desired to suppress the production of vibrator sparks. In the position of the ignition switch 21 shown in the figure, the primary single sparkcircuit comprises the battery 7, the primary 3 of the spark coil, and the circuit breaker controlling the contacts 28 29. The vibrator circuit comprises the storage battery, the ignition switch, the primary of the spark coil, the hand switch 45, the ound con nection and the vibrator contro ling the contacts 42 and 43. The vibrator carries, in addition to the series coil39, a shunt winding 44, which is normally connected. across the main brushes 10, 12 of the generator 9 but can be connected across the battery 7 by movingthe switch 46 from point 47 to point 48. If the ignition switch 21. stands on point 22, then a movement of the switch 46 from 47 to 48, will connect the shunt coil 44 acros; the dry cells 8, instead of the batter ith the ignition switch 21 in the position shown, the switch 46 on point 47 and switch 45 closed, the system will produce vibrator sparks until the engine has been brought up to, or has reached-a speed at mat1c'.- It will hold the vibrator circuit open as long as the voltage of thedvnamo is about the same asthat of the storage battery, and will close said circuitwhen the voltage of the dynamo falls materially below that of thebattery. As long as the dynamo voltage is a little in excess of the battery voltage,

the foriner will charge the latter *and the automatic battery switch 14 will remain closed. But as soon as the dynamo voltage decreases to a value below that of the storage battery, the charging current will decrease to zeroand the battery will begin to discharge into the dynamo. As soon as this happens, the automatic switch 14 will interrupt the connection between the dynamo and the battery. H

Because the; vibrator coil 39 is connected to the primary ignition circuit in closest proximity of one pole of the storage battery, said vibrator may be made use of, without any change in the connections, for detecting a ground in the vicinity of the opposite pole of the battery, or even' in the greater part of the primary ignition circuit. this end, switch 21 should be placed on point 24, switch should be opened, and the engine turned into a position in which cam 27 raises point 28 out of contact with point 29. If there is a ground anywhere between the battery *5 and the contact 28, the vibration of the vibrator will disclose this fact. If the ground is between the battery and the primary of the ignition coil, the vibrator will disclose it even it points 28 and 29 are in contact. 1

Having tully described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent of the United States is:

1. In an ignition system for combustion engines, a secondary ignition circuit, aprimary ignition circuit comprising an exciting coil, means for interrupting the circuit through the excitin coil, said means being normally in its closed position, other means for interrupting the circuit through the exciting coil, said. means being in shunt circuit with the first mentioned circuit interrupter, and means governed by the speed of the' engine for rendering the shunt circuit inoperative.

2. lnsan ignition system for combustion engines, a secondary ignition circuit, aprimary ignition circuit comprising an exciting coil, means for interrupting .the circuit through the exciting coil, said means being norinall y in its closed position, other means for interrupting the circuit through the exciting coil comprisinga' vibratile element operated by an electromagnet, said means being in shunt circuit with the first mentioned circuit interrupter, and means for contin engines, a secondary ignition, circuit, a primary ignition circuit comprising an exciting coil, means for interrupting the circuit through the exciting coil, said means being normally in its closed position, other means for interrupting the circuit through the exciting coil comprising cooperating contacts connected in shunt circuit with the first mentioned interruptin 'means, and means for continuously maintaining said contacts in separated position.

4. In an ignition system for combustion :engines, a secondary ignition circuit, a primary ignition circuit comprising an ex-, citing coil, means for interrupting the circuit through the exciting coil,'other, means for interrupting the circuit through the exciting coil comprising cooperating contacts connected in shunt circuit with the first mentioned interrupting means, and means for continuously maintaining said contacts in separated position. I

5. In an ignition system for combustion engines, a secondary ignition circuit, a primary ignition circuit comprising an ex- .citing coil, means for interrupting the circuit through the exciting coil, said m.:ans'

being normally in its closed position, other means for interrupting the circuit through the exciting coil comprising a vibratile element operated by an electromagnet, said means being in shunt circuit with the first mentioned circuitf interrupter, av dynamo driven by the engine, and means'governed by the dynamo voltage for continuously hoiding the vibratile blement in. the position in which the shunt circuit is interrupted thereby.

7. In an ignition system *for' combustion engines, a secondary ignition circuit, a primary ignition circuit comprising an e:;=

citing coil, means for interrupting the tircuit through the exciting coil, said means being normally in its closed positiompth'er means for interrupting the circuit through I the exciting coil comprising a vibratile element operated by an electromagnet, said .rneans being in shunt circuit with the first mentioned circuit interrupter, a dynamo driven by the engine, andmeans governed by the dynamo voltage for continuously holding the vibratile'eiement in the position in which the shunt circuit is interrupted thereby, a battery in'the primary circuit, and means for connecting the dynamo to said circuit in shunt to the battery. 8. In an ignition system for combustion engines, a secondary ignition circuit, a primary ignition circuit comprising. an exciting coil, means for interrupting the circuit through the exciting coil, said means being normally in its closed position, and a partial circuit connected inshunt to the contacts of said circuit interrupter, said partial circuit comprising an electromagnet, a vibratile circuit interrupter operated thereby, a portion of the engine frame, and aswitch.

9. In an ignition system for combustion engines, a secondary ignition circuit, a primary ignition circuit comprising an exciting coil, means for interrupting the circuit through the exciting coil, other means for interrupting the circuit through the said coil, a dynamo driven by the engine, and means governed by'the dyna'mos voltage for rendering one of the circuit'interrupters inoperative. 1

In testimony whereof, We have hereunto set our hands and affixed our seals in the presence of the twosubscribing Witnesses.

BURNS DICK. [L- 8.] VALERE ALFRED FYNN. 1. a] Witnesses:

E. M. JOHNSTON, C. B. BENNETT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. O. V 

